Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya kept a smile on his face as he made his way back to his apartment, his favorite music no longer blasting in his headphones. Bags of groceries filled his arms that he refused to let weigh him down as he walked with purpose. People passed him left and right and cars whizzed by, kicking up dirt and a gentle breeze that helped keep him cool on such a hot day in the beginning weeks of the summer season.
Despite the nice weather and day however, Midoriya was absolutely terrified as he was almost one hundred percent certain there was a giant, looming man following him on his way back to his apartment.
The same figure had been with him for the past six blocks, a hood up to hide their face and muscles just barely contained by the light grey fabric. Izuku tried not panic however, and continued to smile like his once favorite hero, All Might, always did. He kept on his way home like nothing was bothering him, acting as if he was changing the music on his phone every now and then, when really he hadn’t been since he realized the man behind him may have bad intentions.
He stopped at the crosswalk, side glancing at the reflection the building beside him offered with it’s darkened windows.
Once again the hooded man was there, only a few feet away from Midoriya’s much smaller form. He wondered idly if he used his quirk the man would be able to keep up with his quick, rabbit-like movements and shot the idea down quickly.
Izuku wasn’t positive this man was actually following him, and he had no idea what the man's quirk was either.
Nobody else around him was panicking, and the man had yet to do anything suspicious to garner him using his quirk to get away. Maybe if he acted like he had just gotten an important message and was going to be late getting somewhere? No, that wouldn’t work since the man had now come close enough that if he wanted to he’d be able to read Izuku’s phone screen over his shoulder.
He steeled his nerves as the light changed, moving onward towards his quickly approaching apartment building that he could see just at the end of the street now.
He swallowed thickly and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.
Midoriya came upon the entrance gate, watching from the corner of his eye as the man continued on for a few more feet and stopped at the bus stop, pulling out his phone. At the realization he hadn’t been followed, he quickly opened said gate and walked inside, heading up the three flights to get to his individual apartment number.
He unlocked the door, noticing the man was no longer at the bus stop when he looked over the railing that overlooked the street he had just been on. Perhaps the man had been waiting on a friend to pick him up from there and left already? That was more likely than following a nobody like Izuku, at least to him it was.
Izuku headed inside, making sure to double lock his front door and dropping the many bags off in his small kitchenette. He then made his way into his bedroom, slipping his restrictive jeans off and putting on a pair of black pajama shorts and a matching tank.
He had been over-reacting was all.
Not everyone was out to get him and he needed to realize that.
Pondering over joining a self defense class, Izuku Midoriya left the confines of his bedroom to finally put away the groceries he had brought home. A move he would soon come to regret.
As he passed the corner blocking his view of the front door, he noticed multiple things at once.
His once locked front door was now wide open, letting in hot air. And that there was a large figure in the doorway smiling at him. A very familiar figure at this point, in fact.
His phone slipped from his hand, dropping and shattering upon impact with the ground as his heart leapt into his throat. He gasped for air and everything appeared to happen in slow motion. He twisted on the balls of his feet, using his quirk to propel him quickly back down the dark hallway and into his bedroom. The sound of the creaky door closing was like a death sentence to him while the man rushed after him.
He didn’t have time to think or even breath. Only to act.
A laugh followed him, even behind the slamming of his bedroom door that was quickly thrown open behind him.
It slammed so harshly that when it hit the wall behind it, the door cracked the drywall.
The hood obscuring the mans face was no longer there, allowing Izuku to realize just how screwed he was.
The man that had been following him was none other than the villain known as Muscular. The same man who had recently killed the two Water Hose heros. If not even two pro-heros could defeat the man, and in trying had lost their lives, what hope did Izuku - a nineteen year old college student who hadn’t even been able to get passed the entrance exam of Yuuei have of doing so?
He’d be better off begging for his life now.
Belatedly he realized he was cornered. His heart was racing, his blood rushing in his ears and breathing irregular as he panicked. Muscular took another step towards him, towering over him and a wide, crazy grin stretching across his face.
“I- I don’t have any money or valuables! Please! I’m just a college student!” Izuku cried, cowering as he fell backwards.
The villain guffawed loudly, now almost touching Izuku as he got increasingly closer to the young man. “Oh, I’m not here for any money, kid. I’m here for you.”
He felt his heart stop, his lungs seizing up at the words that had just tumbled out of Muscular’s mouth. He was here for him? That could only mean one of two things.
Izuku was about to be kidnapped for who-knows why, or-
No.
He didn’t want to even consider what the other option was, though he knew it was more likely than being kidnapped.
Muscular had said he wasn’t there for any kind of monetary gain, so what else was there for a villain such as himself to get from Izuku? His mom barely had enough money to support herself, let alone pay any kind of ransom if he was indeed about to be kidnapped and not be robbed.
“My mom barely has enough to support herself!” He cried, tears springing to his eyes in a panic. “You won’t get any ransom out of her! All you’ll do is attract attention from other heroes!”
Suddenly there was a hand holding him up off of the ground by his neck, choking him into a coughing fit. He tried to claw at Musculars’ arm to get the villain to release him.
He kicked his legs feebly, terrified beyond belief at what was about to happen to him.
“I already told you kid,” he growled, bringing Midoriya in closer to his crazed face. “I don’t want your money. Let the hero’s come. By the time they get here, I’ll be long gone!”
Izuku tightened his grip on Muscular’s arm, using the new opportunity to charge up his quirk and send a powerful kick into his abdomen. The kick landed and Midoriya wanted to cry out in relief. He would be able to get away! He had a chance of saving himself and getting help!
Except, the kick didn’t do what it was supposed to. It didn’t lead to him being released and getting as far away from the villain as possible like he had hoped. It didn’t send the villain recoiling and down to the ground in pain.
Instead, the grip around his neck only tightened, drawing out a wheezing gasp and cry of pain from him. Muscular looked up from where Midoriya’s foot was still connected to him, chuckling like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Every last shred of hope Izuku had of getting out of this situation completely vanished.
“I can tell you’re gonna be fun! That kinda tickled, actually… too bad I can’t let you struggle some more. I got somewhere to be and a package to deliver.”
From the corner of his eye, Midoriya could see Muscular pull something out of the pocket of his cargo pants. The man brought it up to Izuku’s mouth, a rag of some kind, and covered his face with it. The sweet, ether smelling rag engulfed the entire bottom half of his face.
He struggled as hard as he could with what little air he was getting, only drawing in more and more of the sweet scent that reminded him of his favorite candy as a kid.
Izuku could feel himself getting more and more tired. His limbs were becoming weaker with every kick and swipe of his hands. His eyes were almost impossible to keep open and his vision was becoming milky.
With one final, weak kick and stretch of his hand, Izuku finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
~~~
He came to slowly, much slower than how he would normally wake up in the mornings. His head was aching with the beginnings of a headache and his vision was swimming in the surrounding darkness.
His body still felt heavy and his throat burned and throbbed when he tried to say something. He was still so tired that Izuku felt as if he may just fall right back asleep if he didn’t get some caffeine into him soon.
He forced himself to stay awake however, as something didn’t feel quite right.
As his senses slowly came back to him, he realized very quickly that he wasn’t at home in bed as he had originally thought. Instead he was sitting in a chair, leaning forward with some kind of restraints on him.
Not only could he not move his limbs, but he couldn’t activate his quirk.
“-told you not to waste any time in getting him!” A raspy voice hissed out.
“I was hungry. The little rabbit here was too much fun and worked up an appetite.”
He instantly recognized Muscular’s voice from across whatever room he was in. He had to assume it was a small room though as there wasn’t any echo.
If he could see, Izuku might have realized that he was practically surrounded by Japan’s most dangerous criminals instead of just two angry sounding men in the midst of an argument.
“You could have easily come here and had Kurogiri get you something instead of risking the heroes noticing and possibly following you here!” The raspy voice sounded disgusted with himself as he spoke the word ‘heroes’. “Now we all have to go on lockdown and my plans have to be postponed!”
“I wasn’t followed Shigaraki. And even if I had been, I would’ve killed any heroes that tried to stop me before they even knew what hit them.”
“You-!”
Some kind of heavy scratching noise filled Izuku’s ears then, fast and furious in its efforts. He tried very hard not to move in any way, shape or form as the sound came closer to him until he felt a hand grip his hair to pull his head back harshly.
He let out a surprised, pained cry through whatever was over his mouth at the sharp tug.
“Shigaraki, be careful with your quirk.” Another voice intoned as if gently scolding a child. “We need him alive if you wish to use him.”
“Be quiet Kurogiri! I have my gloves on.” Raspy-voice (Shigaraki) spat.
Izuku wriggled around helplessly.
He was in so much pain already and the tight grip on his hair holding his head back against the chair wasn’t helping with his headache.
He could just barely make out a light above him through the fabric of his blindfold, causing his eyes to hurt.
It was quiet for a few moments, minus his heavy panicked breathing, until the third voice of who he assumed to be known as Kurogiri spoke up once again. This time suggesting Shigaraki let go of his hair as he had no real reason to cause Izuku any more pain than he already was in after being knocked out with Chloroform.
It was only with an annoyed hiss through his teeth that Shigaraki finally released Izuku with a shove to the back of his head.
“So- what do we do now?”
Yet another voice, a female at that.
How many villains were in the room with him!?
Even without knowing most of their quirks he knew there was barely a chance for him to escape. There were just too many villains around him - and that was only counting the ones he could hear.
Shigaraki let out a sigh, even more scratching coming from beside Izuku and a heavy hand holding his head down by the back of his neck.
“We wait… for now. Until we’re sure Muscular didn’t drag any unwanted attention by his little pit stop, we stay here at the base.” The hand lifted. “I’m going to my room. You all can do whatever. Just don’t touch the hostage… or else.”
A door creaked closed behind Shigaraki as he left the room, leaving it in silence until the female of the group spoke up once again.
“My question still stands. What do we do with the cutie in the chair?” She asked, a note of sadistic excitement in her voice. “Can I taste his blood!? Ooh! I bet he tastes as sweet as looks! Maybe even sweeter!”
He froze.
She wanted to taste his blood ?
Light footsteps bounced their way over to him and Izuku renewed his struggles to get as far away from whoever it was as possible.
Small, dainty hands grabbed him by his jaw, lifting his head all the way back until the front of his neck was easy to access for all. He could feel cool puffs of air against his skin and joyful glee at his panicking. His cries of protest were muffled by the gag and he could hear her girlish giggling above him.
The blindfold was yanked away with an easy tug. Light hit his pupils, making him hiss and yank his head out of her grip so that he wouldn’t be blinded by the overhanging light.
She had to be crazy - only a psychopath would want to taste somebody else's blood!
“Did you not hear the brat? Hands off Touga.”
The new voice was low and deep, coming from off to the right of Izuku.
He blinked a few times to clear his vision, noticing the man who looked around his age covered in purple scars and piercings staring uninterestedly at him standing in one of the darkened corners of the room.
“Aww!” The girl, Touga he reminded himself, whined. “But I just wanted a little taste!”
She gripped him by his cheeks, smooshing his face into a puckered look behind the gag and brought it in close to hers.
“Just look at how sweet he looks Dabi-chan!”
Dabi looked on, unimpressed by the teenaged girls efforts and raised a thin brow at her.
She deflated and dropped his face.
Touga twisted on her heels and pouted like an upset child. He almost felt sorry for her - if she hadn’t wanted to taste his blood that is. It was obvious to Midoriya that she wasn’t taken as seriously as the others were in the room, and being the only female (that he knew of) must have only made it all that much harder for her.
As it were, Izuku just wanted to be left alone and not be touched by any of them. He had no idea what any of their quirks were except for Muscular since the attack with the Water Hose heroes had been broadcast throughout all of Japan on live TV.
Because of that, it only stood to reason that he wouldn’t want to be within a hundred yard radius of the villains in the room.
“Dabi, why don’t you take our guest to the room in which he’ll be staying for the time being. I’m sure he must want to sleep off the remaining effects of the Chloroform.” Kurogiri suggested while he continued to clean glasses and wipe the bar.
Dabi shrugged off of the wall and made his way over to Izuku nonchalantly. He muttered a small complaint under his breath but nevertheless did as he was asked. He began unchaining Midoriya at his feet, making sure to keep the quirk-negating cuffs around his ankles tightly secured so that he couldn’t do anything.
Not that he would.
He knew he was outmatched just by looking around him at the number of villains surrounding him.
In total he counted five just in the room alone. Who knew how many were in other rooms or out of sight.
So, Izuku let himself be grabbed by his shoulder by Dabi and kept his head down, trying to make himself look as meek and non-threatening as possible.
He didn’t want to anger any of them as he had no idea how they would react or what they could do to him if he tried.
“Thank you, Dabi.” Kurogiri called after them.
Instead of responding verbally, Dabi waved the man with purple-black smoke for a face off and closed the door behind them. Beyond the first room Midoriya had woken up in was a staircase leading up, and a staircase leading down.
Dabi directed him to the staircase going down, his partially scarred hand wrapped tightly against Izuku’s neck just as Shigaraki had done not five minutes beforehand.
They walked down a long, dark hallway, and Izuku had to struggle to keep up with Dabi as the chains around his ankles limited how much he could move. Dabi, he realized, must not have been one for much conversation as he kept quiet until they got to the last door in the hallway and he had opened it.
“Get in.”
This was where Izuku truly started to fear for his life in this situation.
There were no exits or windows besides the one door. Meaning he would be cornered should any of the villains enter after him and attempt to do anything. It was dark and wet looking, with only a dingy mat and a small bucket in one corner. He couldn’t imagine staying in the room and surviving for longer than an hour or so without catching anything. And yet he couldn’t voice any of his concerns.
The raven haired man must have become impatient as he grabbed Izuku and tossed him inside without care. He landed roughly on his side on the mat with a muffled cry, almost hitting his head on the concrete floor. He quickly twisted onto his back to stare up at the only way out to see Dabi glaring down at him.
From this angle he was made all the more dangerous looking as the light reflected off his blue eyes and made it look like they were on fire.
“You’re gonna have to learn to follow orders around here if you’re gonna survive long enough to get rescued little man.” There was hardly any emotion in the statement other than slight annoyance.
But Midoriya could tell it wasn’t entirely aimed at him. Perhaps Dabi didn’t enjoy his job, or maybe he didn’t like taking orders from others. Midoriya didn’t know for sure. Though he did know that Dabi was more than likely right.
So with a swallow of his pride Izuku would do so during his (hopefully very short) stay with the group of villains.
The door closed with a slam, leaving Izuku in total darkness besides the light coming in from under the crack of the door.
“Someone’ll be by later with your food. Don’t try anything when whoever it is does.”
And suddenly, Izuku was all alone.